August 19, 2011

Wayne Ohnesorg, Extension Educator in Madison, Wayne, Pierce, and Stanton Counties:  Much welcome rain has fallen in the past two weeks. With the rain we've also had some severe weather with hail in the Yankton, SD area and a confirmed tornado near Orchard. Soybean aphids are beginning to build populations to the economic threshold and growers should be scouting their fields. Otherwise crops appear to be in good condition. (8/19/11)

Karen DeBoer, Extension Educator in Cheyenne County:  Recent hail storms in our area have been damaging to many crops. Grasshoppers are becoming more numerous and damaging to crops, as well. Producers are selecting wheat varieties and getting ready to plant winter wheat soon. (8/19/11)

Doug Anderson, Extension Educator in Keith, Arthur, and Perkins Counties:  The last two storms carved a fairly wide path from west of Arthur to McCook. Overall, corn look pretty good except in the hailed areas where plants range from stubs to tall stems with no leaves and a small ear. The ears have been damaged and show signs of fungus growth.  In some areas alfalfa looks great while in other areas, it's struggling to regrow.  Several alfalfa fields have been cut and baled and fed just to clean up a field. Soybeans are struggling to put on new growth; it's probably too late for any kind of decent yield.  (8/18/11)

Drew Lyon, Extension Dryland Crops Specialist, Panhandle REC, Scottsbluff:  Late season conditions this year are similar to last year, but we’re getting some scattered rainfall which will be good for wheat seeding. We have lots of weedy wheat fields. We had some poor stands early in spring and then heavy moisture that allowed the weeds to get a strong start. Sunflowers have begun to flower, which is a little later than usual. Corn is a little behind normal too. In recent years, water for irrigation would have been cut off by now, but this year there was good water.